When $100 Million a Year Isn't Enough: Goldman Trader Defects To Hedge Fund

Known for his record-breaking bonuses, including 50 million pounds or $100 million in 2006, Goldman Sachs trader Driss Ben-Brahim is joining another wealth factory: hedge fund GLG Partners. (So much for the argument that larger bonuses will keep bank traders from defecting to hedge funds.)

GLG is probably best known for being the former employer of Philippe Jabre, who was fined $750,000 by Britain’s Financial Services Authority, the largest amount ever levied against an individual, for market-abuse charges. Ben-Brahim will likely help GLG improve its image and make even more money.

Mr. Ben-Brahim, 42 years old, currently helps oversee emerging-markets trading at Goldman Sachs from London. GLG, which is run by several former Goldman partners, targeted Mr. Ben-Brahim to help it expand its so-called special-situations business, which covers a variety of longer-term investments, including in private companies or less-liquid assets. That will include running the roughly $1.2 billion emerging-markets special-situations fund that is now run by Greg Coffey, the fund manager who is leaving the firm.

GLG said in April that Mr. Coffey, who oversees four funds including the firm’s largest, GLG Emerging Markets Fund, will leave in October. At the beginning of this month, GLG executives placed restrictions limiting the amount of money investors in the firm’s largest fund could withdraw to 10% of the fund’s total assets. GLG executives had said they could see $4 billion of assets leave with Mr. Coffey, but people familiar with the matter say withdrawals so far have been less than half that.